A/N: Special thanks to angelfireeast on AO3. This would never have taken off without them. ^^

Disclaimer: I only own the headcanon about Earth 2 legal system

Not beta'd. I'll fix it later. going on a trip tomorrow and wanted to get this posted.

This was wrong, all wrong! This was not supposed to happen. Cisco was never supposed to be collateral damage of any kind. Especially not when Snow was away on a visit with traveling family. How could he and Allen allow this to happen to Cisco!?

Harrison glared hard as he gently cleaned up the split lip of the man sitting before him. The kid had lost a fight with a minor but still unstable meta a little over an hour before. Allen returning him in this state had broken something in Harrison, making it difficult for him to keep his emotions locked away in their little glass cage. His worry and anxiety were coming out as anger now. His hands were trembling with the effort to try and keep his emotions in check. His struggle grew more difficult each passing second he looked at the young man he loved.

Harrison quickly closed his eyes as he pulled away from Cisco, done bandaging him. He was quickly trying to kill the urge to scoop the young man into his arms and kiss the pain away from the bruises on the sweet young face. He had to stop thinking like this. He did not love the young man, he couldn't! Could he? No. There were too many repercussions to think about. It was illogical, he had not been interested in anyone in this way since the loss of his wife passed, let alone had never felt such feeling for another man. Why was this happening now?!

"Harry?" His companion's voice was soft and worried in his ears but it could not pull him out of his frantic thinking. No, he had to understand this. He had to know why this would happen after all this time and why with this young man. He was still a child compared to Harrison! He had no right to feel such a way towards the young man.

His thoughts began to run in circles in head. They did little to help and were instead only making him more anxious and confused. He hated feeling like this, hated to feel scared and out of control in his own brilliant mind.

"Harry?" The worried question was gently enforced with a familiar gesture. The gentle drag and run of Cisco's shoe against his ankle was focusing his scattered thoughts. The young man had been doing it for months now. It was his way of asking in the older scientist was alright without touching his arms while he worked. It was only used for getting him off worries of Jesse so Cisco must be very concerned if he was using it now.

Harrison turned his chair towards his side of the desk before opening his eyes. He did not think he could look at the object of his secret affection right now and not do something he would regret. Though, he should have known this would never work as the younger man seemed to live to butt into his affairs.

A small thrill shot across Harrison's skin as he felt the warmth of his companion's hand through the material of his sweatshirt's sleeve. Heat, soft and comforting, flowed through his body as he lost his internal war. He swallowed thickly as he hesitantly looked over at the other man. He should not have been effected by the site of the worried kid with a lollipop in his mouth but his body had other plans. His skin felt hot and fuzzy as love and protectiveness settled into his chest. He quickly hid it behind a glare.

"You're an idiot, Ramon." The young man was unfazed by the rebuke but happily replied with sarcasm.

"Geez, Harry, because I totally woke up this morning and was like 'I'm going to go get in a fight with a meta that has a grudge against me'! I didn't mean for this to happen." The young man pouted slightly as he gestured wildly to his own face. He sucked on his candy before sighing and smiling softly, "Look, it wasn't planned but it worked out fine. And Barry got done in time to go on that job with Joe so it's all cool." Cisco grinned wide, completely unaffected by the bruising on his cheek. The happy young man was too much to look at, Harry sneered and quickly turned away as he began to scribble nonsense equations to look busy. Emotions were warring in him, his next words slipping out before he could stop.

"Don't be foolish, Ramon! I don't want to lose someone I love because of some vendetta-crazed meta!" His pen was slammed down as his voice raised with the final words. The world seemed to suddenly stop as what he had said settled in. Harrison's muscles stiffened up in horror as Cisco's eyes grew wide. An unfamiliar type of panic started to swell in the older scientist. He could so easily sit there and play it off as platonic love were it not for how quickly his rational mind was losing to his body's need to flee. He quickly stood and moved to leave when suddenly Cisco's legs were up, trapping him with one on either side. Anxiety made Harrison's skin crawl as he looked down at the younger scientist sitting at the desk. The younger man looked at him curiously.

"Harry?" the tone and the secret language they had some how formed made the silent question only too obvious. The other man needed to know what Harry had just meant by all that. Once again, it would be so simple to play the whole thing off if only he could get his mouth to work. Instead, Harrison was just standing there silent with wide, horrified eyes. Again, their special language stabbed him in the back as Cisco suddenly understood every unspoken word.

The young scientist broke into a grin reserved only for when they had saved the city. Harry's knees threatened to give out in horror as the kid lowered his legs before bouncing to his feet. Harrison stumbled back a few steps as Cisco crowded him. His blood pounded as he expected jeering and ridicule like he would on his earth, if he was not arrested first.

Like so many times before, the kid surprised him. He felt paralyzed as the young man reached up and grabbed him by the front of his hoodie. Harrison absentmindedly noticed that he was no longer sucking on the candy. The thought, along with everything else, was erased from his logical brain as he was pulled down into a gentle yet confident kiss.

Cisco smiled into the kiss as he felt his friend melt into it. He suddenly felt bubbly and quite happy with himself as he felt his friend desperately clinging to him as the kiss was needily reciprocated. it felt a little strange to be kissing Harry of all people but far from terrible. Having been married for all those years had done wonders for the man's kissing abilities and Cisco was only too happy to take advantage of that skill. His hands slipped up into his companion's crazy hair, feeling him start to relax into the affection when the older scientist suddenly jerked away. Cisco blinked in confusion as Harry stumbled away from him again, a spooked look in his eyes.

"Okay, I know it's been a while since I've had a good makeout session but I didn't think I was that bad." Cisco chuckled nervously as he tried to break the ice. His companion looked completely rattled and was quivering ever so slightly. It was all very out of character for the stoic scientist and it was scaring Cisco a bit.

"Harry, you alright, man?" He slowly moved forward and gently touched his friend's sleeved arm. Harry jerked away from the touch much like how he used to avoid getting vibed.

"We can't do this, Ramon."

"Why not? Jesse's safe, she's out shopping with Iris. And, it's not like either of us are currently in a relationship. We got nothin' holdin' us back."He touched the older man again and pulled him close enough to ensnare him in a hug.

"Ramon, get off!" Harry was uncharacteristically vocal today as he desperately tried to shove the younger man off but Cisco refused to let him escape.

"Harry, I'm not letting you go until you explain why not, you realize that right?" Cisco mumbled against the hoodie's soft material as he glared up at the taller man, defiant till the end.

"Because we can't be seen like this. Now get off!" Cisco blinked slowly at the panicky demand as realization settled in. He could remember only too easily how the technology on Earth 2 was far beyond them but their ideologies as a whole were behind the current stage of Earth 1. It was simple to understand that homosexual relations might still be frowned upon or even illegal still in the other world. He smiled sadly and tightened his grip, snuggling into Harry's chest. He would just have to show him how they did things on Earth 1 then.

"Sure we can! No one cares here."

"what?"

"everything's fine. Just relax. Harry, homosexuality hasn't been illegal here in like fifty years. There's nothing to worry about." Harry was still quivering slightly but was slowly relaxing at the news, "the only people you can't marry nowadays is your cousin or your dog. We won't get in trouble for playing deviant." Cisco's wary smiled brightened as he felt the lankier man loosen up. Harry stayed quiet but still looked nervous.

"You've never done this, have you?" Harry blinked twice but stayed silent, "It's okay to be feeling a little awkward. It's just like any other relationship."

"Relationship?"

"Well yeah. You didn't think I'd let you stick your tongue down my throat for free, did you?" Cisco grinned wide as the red started to creep into the older man's pale cheeks. He found he could really get used to such a rare and elusive look.

He released him just enough to gently pull him into a chaste kiss. A bit shocked when he heard a soft hum escape the older man. He felt needy hands cling to him and he suddenly felt right at home. It should not have surprised him that Harry was like a different person when it came to intimacy considering how he acted when it came to family. He did find it strange thought that it would be a wayward soul exiled from Earth 2 would be the one to make all the pieces of home settle into place for Cisco when everyone from Earth 1 had failed before. It was that feeling that told him he would do anything to bring the same comfort and warmth to the cold older man that had somehow crawled into his heart and refused to leave.

~*~End~*~